I have an 11 month old female puggle who was fine when she was a puppy, but after she was 5 or 6 months, she started having really bad temperamental problems. When she has something in her mouth and I go near her she starts growling and the hair on her back sticks up. I won't even go near her mouth but rather I'll go and try to pet her and she still attacks. She's tried but never succeeded on biting me before but the other day when I tried to take a wrapper out of her mouth she bit my thumb and I had to go to the hospital. She also gets like this, which only started recently, when she is lieng on the couch at night and I try to pick her up to put her in her crate. It starts with a low growl and then she just snaps and goes crazy. It's really scary. Sometimes she'll pee unknowingly when this happens. I don't know what to do. I have spoken to a trainer who told me that she is a teenager and that this phase will pass, although I think that it never will. Yesterday I was walking her when a guy asked me if she was a puggle and then proceeded to tell me that his aunt had a puggle who had bad behavior and temperamental problems and had to give it away. I am hoping I don't have to do that so can somebody please give me some much needed advice? thanx

My dog went through this too. It takes time. you Must have patience. It takes time. My dog bit me, growled at me and did every thing he could to avoid me. Give her some time. I would leave her alone If I were you. If you need more advice, you can privite message me. good luck :)

Have you done any kind of training at all with your dog? The previous poster's suggestion that you stay away from your dog is ridiculous. You should not be living in fear from your dog and let your dog rule your household.

May I ask where you got your dog from? The biggest problem with the puggle is that people are breeding two dogs (a pug and a beagle)regardless of the parent dogs temperament, and breeding them together only to get this mix to get themselves money. No one who breeds puggles to 'meet demand' is a responsible breeder.

My first suggestion is that you put a leash on the dog, and keep it on the dog at all times. In this manner you can pull her of the couch or get up from whereever and make her do what you want, and be at less risk of biting.

Start working on obedience right away, with treat based rewards. Make her sit before everything, feeding, loving, etc. You are obviously being given warnings by the dog when she doesn't want to do what you are asking. The moment she starts to curl her lip, the very instant that she shows that aggressive sign, 'pop' the leash with a corrective tug and tell her "No," in a firm no-nonsense tone, so she understands the behavior she is showing is completely unacceptable.

Since she is showing guarding behavior when she's on the couch? Personally if she were my dog, she'd loose all couch priveledges all together. Does she sleep in your bed? Don't allow her up there as well. Some dogs see you allowing them into these elevated positions as signs that you are the more submissive one in the household, and that she is the pack leader. YOu want to disabuse that notion and make it very clear that you are the pack leader.

I strongly urge you to call around your area and see if you can find a professional dog trainer or behaviorist that is willing to help you in training your dog in a positive manner, especially one-on-one training. Keep in mind that if you do decide to rehome this dog, and you don't tell them that she is having these aggressive issues and that she has bitten in the past, you could be held legally liable if she bites anyone.

Please, please listen to minniyar! There is absolutely no reason this behavior should be allowed from your pet, and ignoring the situation will only make the aggression worse, as you are letting your dog know this is "Okay" by not doing anything to correct it. Talk to trainers, research training techniques, decide what is best for you and your dog and do this quickly. No matter what you do make sure you are always firm and IN CONTROL! Never act fearful around an aggressive dog you are training/retraining. YOU are in charge.

There are plenty of people here who will give you advice that have had experience in re-training animals. Unfortunatly, I've only trained, not retrained. But please do not ignore this behavior!

The behavior she is displaying, is the same behavior my foster dog had and had to be put to sleep over. His family let him get away with it as a puppy and as he got older it only got worse until he was going after children.

Please dont let this happen to your dog. Ask the vet, groomers, or just other dog people you meet for a good trainer in the area. You will probably need a private session in your home. She should not be allowed on beds or couches. When you prepare her food, make her sit and wait while you spend 5 mins preparing it. (even if it doesnt take that long, just act like your doing something to it). Then, get a cracker or something and you eat first. Make her do another command, THEN she can eat. Before she goes outside, she needs to do a sit or down and stay, you open the door, THEN she can go outside. Same with playtime, affection, anything.

She needs to learn she is NOT in charge. You also need to teach her "give it" "drop it" and "take it". When she has something in her mouth tell her to give it or drop it and when she does, offer her a treat.

Thank you everyone for the great advice. I got her online from a breeder in Oklahoma. She went to puppy obedience school at Petsmart when she was about 5 months old. She will sit, lay down and leave it and take it with a treat but only a treat. She doesn't sleep in my bed with me. I put her in her crate every night and she's very good about going in and right to sleep but getting her off the couch is a problem. The leash idea is good and I think I will try that. She always sits before I give her food but I usually give it to her right away when she sits so I'm gonna make her wait a little bit before I give it to her now. Thanx everyone for your help.

In addition to working on training with your dog, I suggest a trip to the vet. A lot of behavior problems result from physical problems that have gone undiagnosed. Get her thyroid checked (you want the big, complicated test), and have her checked for Lymes disease. Both thyroid problems and Lymes disease can lead to increased aggression in dogs. Her behavior sounds like resource guarding, but you should have her checked just in case.

Although NILIF is a good idea, and I practice it at home, too, resource guarding is not a dominance issue. A low ranking dog will allow a higher ranking dog first shot at any resource that is sitting in the open. However, once a low ranking dog has a resource, he will often guard it from higher ranking dogs (and yes, the same goes for wolves).

Dogs guard because they are afraid they are going to lose whatever they have. So, instead of having her wait for her meal, I suggest you start out by continuing to have her sit (or perform some other task on cue), and then give her one handful of food for performing on cue correctly. Do not put the food in the dish; just feed out of your hand. The dog won't have anything to guard. Feed her entire meal in this manner--one correct behavior on cue equals one handful of food.

If she doesn't sit on cue, just say "oops" and put her food away. Don't force her to sit. Watching dinner go bye-bye makes a big impression on dogs, much more so than being forced to sit does. She'll quickly figure out that if she wants to eat, she'll have to play your game.

Furthermore, pick up all of her toys, bones, et cetera. Don't leave them lying out. If she wants a toy, she has to work for it. And then teach her to "give." When she has a toy (after performing on cue), offer to trade the toy for something really yummy like a small piece of chicken or cheese. Make the trade, and then give the toy right back. You want to teach her that giving up things is good for her (because she gets yummy treats). Have her trade a number of times before you actually put the toy up.

You may want to read Click to Calm by Emma Parsons and/or Fiesty Fido by Patricia McConnell. Both books can help you deal with the problems you're having with your dog.

I adopted a resource aggressive dog a few years ago, and fixing the problem was time consuming, but the solutions I was given/read about worked wonders. I also left a leash on her as Minn suggested. She is now a well behaved dog and a pleasure to live with.

But remember, no amount of training will fix a physical/organic problem. Go see your vet.

I need advice. I have a 7 y/o white german shepherd. She has severe issues of aggression and nervousness. She has bitten me TWICE. 1st 2 y ago she bit me on the arm when I startled her... to the bone. Last year she killed my kitten because it hissed at her. She has attacked 2 small dogs, unprovoked, and finally 2 days ago she bit me in the face. I was really scared to look in the mirror to see how bad it was but luckily I only suffered a superficial laceration and 2 puncture wounds. I am heart broken. She really is a sweet sweet dog and very intelligent. She just flips sometimes. Like last time when she bit me, I was down on the floor rolling around with her acting like an idiot. I have down this with all my dogs all my life. I didn't do anything to hurt her or that should have scared her. Im at my wits end with her. I'm really afraid she will eventually end up attacking another person or animal and end up being destroyed. She just seems extraordinarily nervous. When I pet her, every time my hand touches her she jumps or looks as though she's afraid she will be hit. This dog has never been abused in anyway at all. If anything, she is spoiled. I'm open to suggestions. Have a video at http://www.youtube.com/wrayc. Also, she is terrified of water. If I say "bath" she runs and hides. Thank you.

Our dog bit my wife during a dog fight. Our two dogs turn on each other for minor infractions. The first attack was really shocking and traumatic for my wife who has been a dog lover for years. She was trying to break up one of their fights and after two attempts and getting knocked down, Nixon turned around and lunged at her and bit her very hard on the thigh breaking the skin with two puncture wounds and severe bruising. The emotional trauma was as bad as the bite since she believed her dog would never bite her.Now what? A trainer has been called and more obedience classes are planned but once this has happened it changes everything. We were fostering this dog and were planning on adoption. We have not called the agency who rescued him but will do this soon.I really identify with the woman whose dog bites her often enough to have bitten her face. I am not as attached to our dogs as much as she is and have not been bitten as badly.We thought raising these dogs would be a challenge but did not think it would come to this.We are the pack leaders in the house but the dogs still have too much freedom. We have different approaches to raising them as she is more indulgent than I and is more likely to have them turn on her. As you can see in this reply, we are also dealing with the same issue and need help.

I am afraid my opinion may not be "approved" by others here, and I appologize in advance. Having been bitten myself many years ago by someone else's dog, I do have a very viseral reaction to aggressive dogs. Having served as treasurer of my local of my local humane society, I know that there are many, many wonderful dogs being put to sleep every day all around this country, simply because there aren't enough homes for them. Many of these dogs have no aggression issues and are not dangerous to anyone. As responsible pet owners, I believe we have an obligation to do everything in our power to address the aggression issues by consulting with well educated, knowledgable, experienced trainers, attending classes and providing a home environment condusive to well behaved, well mannered dogs. But when we have exhausted these options and met our responsibilites and the dog remains a threat to humans, I have little to no tolerance. Let me reiterate: I believe it is a pet owner's responsibiltiy to seek training and treatment for aggression issues and if those efforts fail (real effort and committment), then we are further obligated to keep the rest of the human population free from the dangers of an agressive dog. Having said all that: To those of you who are emotionally attached to these agressive dogs and are faced with difficult decsions, my heart goes out to you.

to Nickyone: I don't perceive your problem to be exactly the same as the others who have posted previous to you. What it sounds like in your case was Redirected Aggression. It is very common for two dogs who are engaged in a fight to turn and bite whoever is grabbing at them. The dogs get so caught up in fighting with one another that they don't realize it is you grabbing at them and not the other dog. That is why it is generally a good idea to never try to break up a dog fight by reaching for the head area of either dog. If you must break one up grab one of the dogs by the rear legs and pull them apart. That suually works best if there is another person available to do the same to the other dog. Or use a garden hose on them or something that doesn't put you in harms way.

Dog-Dog aggression is completely unrelated to Dog-Human aggression and needs to be treated differently. Some dogs just cannot get along with other dogs and if this is the case, it is best that you do not adopt this dog and warn potential adopters of these issues.

My nine-year-old dachshund bit me today on the nose. It bled. He's never bitten me before although he has bitten a couple of others in the past, it was never hard and never drew blood. Today I picked him up while a guest was eating near him and he snapped. In in the past I've been able to pull steak out his mouth and he would have never bitten me! Also today, about an hour before he bit me, he jumped off furniture but landed on his back, which scared me, but he got right back up and looked fine.

Last year he had his first back issue and since then he's been much more tense. For example, when I try to wake him up from a hard sleep he growls and looks ready to attack, which is something he never did before last year. When I pick him up he is very tense. He goes to the vet about every one or two months for various reasons, and they always check his back and it has been fine.

Could this new aggression be age related or could it just be general discomfort related to his back? Any responses would be appreciated. I plan on taking him to the vet this week for a talk.

Also today, about an hour before he bit me, he jumped off furniture but landed on his back, which scared me, but he got right back up and looked fine.

I think it is possible that even though he got up fine from his fall, that he is feeling sore from it. That may very well indeed be why he bit you when you went to pick him up. When you take him to the vet this week, ask about putting him on a medication for arthritis. Bloodwork should be done before starting the medication as a few of them have effects on kidney function. You want to make sure his kidneys are functioning properly before starting him on anything. Also, it is a good idea to routinely check his kidney and liver values every 6 months while on the medication to make sure it is not causing any issues. Some of the kidney issues seem to be more prevalent in certain breeds such as Labradors, but any dog can be sensitive to them. It is also not a bad idea, given his age, to have the bloodwork done anyway. As they age things start to go wrong and if you have a baseline to start from, you can catch things earlier when they can be treated before getting too bad.

I agree with scout! You have a nine year old dog that has not been a problem before my first thought is that your dog is probably in pain. You said it fell right before it bit you. Pain can make a good dog act totaly different. Good luck with your baby let us know how things go!

so, i see some good advice, and want to share my story to get some additional suggestions. My dog, a boston terrier, bit me last night on the nose. we were laying on bed watching tv, and i leaned over to tell him it was time for bed, also petting him. he went nuts and got a hold of my nose. it was good enough to send me to the hospital. he tried this on my brother about 4 months ago, but my brother was able to get away with just a scrape. i adopted this dog about 18 months ago at 2 years old. i tend to think he may have been abused, because since the day i got him, he has always been afraid of my hand. i'll reach to pet him, and he kinda cowers away like he is expecting a spanking (i have never hit him). both times he bit was after 10:30 at night on weekends. thoughts please.